How do I tutor Math?
So, this is one of the most important and common question parents have for me.
“My kid doesn’t like Math, How are you going to introduce Math to him/her?“
High School Math Tutoring
Well, it really depends on the student. For highschool and Adult tutees, I usually employ the “ I do, we do, you do ” method of teaching. It works like a charm. They aren’t coming to get lectured for hours. They just want to get comfortable with numbers. And “I do, we do, you do” is a great tool to help them with that.
Middle School Math Tutoring
But, For middle schoolers, it is generally a different ball game. Most of them hate extra classes. They don’t want to sit in the same place and do Math for an hour. So, I split the time we spend learning together.
The first five to ten minutes is actually warming up. I just ask them to recall what they learned in the last lesson. That puts them in the learning mode. After that, we start with the lesson of the day. I introduce the concept with a little backstory. Usually, a thing they do every day. Like, for example, when I introduce Integer Addition, I ask them to explain “How credit cards work?” Almost all of them get that right. And gradually we get into integer addition. We start working on the problems after this.
Also, I always have at least two to three alternate methods. If this doesn’t work, at least any of the alternate ways will work. This would go on for probably 40 minutes. The last ten minutes, I just make them practice the problems that they will be working after the lesson that day. We wind up the session recalling what we learned that day.
And I make sure that my students are vocal about their understanding of the lesson. I encourage them to ask questions the moment they pop on their head.
Maintaining this rapport is what I believe the important aspect of my Tutoring.